


La Justice est Incroyable et Terrifiante

by DeathGlobalZone



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Chameleon Salt, Episode: s03 Caméléon | Chameleon, Gen, Light Angst, Miraculous Ladybug Salt, One Shot, akumanette, cathartic writing, its been months and i'm still salty, la justice by lunian, let marinette have feelings you cowards, lila gets exposed, marinette becomes an akuma, no reveal, people are allowed to have DIMENSONS adrien, plagg gets sassy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 11:38:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18690724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathGlobalZone/pseuds/DeathGlobalZone
Summary: Betrayal. Hurt. Anger. Marinette feels abandoned by her friends when Lila comes back to school with a mouth full of lies that everyone just laps up. Where's the Justice?Justice is Incredible and Terrifying.





	La Justice est Incroyable et Terrifiante

**Author's Note:**

> Who doesn’t have salt for chameleon? La Justice design is credited to Lunian on tumblr.

**XxX**

 Betrayal. Hurt. Anger.

 These are all emotions Marinette feels as she powerwalks out of the cafeteria, feeling the burning eyes of her classmates follow her every move. Her own eyes are burning with tears. Swiftly, she makes her way to the bathroom on the first floor and slams the door behind her, though it doesn’t provide any relief.

  _‘How could they? When have I_ not _stood up for them? Heard their side of the story?’_ Marinette is furious as she looks hard into the mirror. _‘Friends trust friends! I’m their class president, I’ve known them for years, and they trust_ Lila _? What happened to their “everyday Ladybug”? Where’s the justice?’_

 Just then, Lila opens the door and looks at her with a faux concerned expression. “Marinette? Oh, are you crying?”

 The bluenettes anger spikes further. “No, I’m not!”

 “I can sense that you don’t like me,” Lila whimpers pathetically. “but I don’t understand why. We barely know each other.”

 Marinette thinks back to when she first met Lila, all those months ago, using her alter-ego to gain popularity and try to get closer to Adrien. She really does regret going off on the Italian like that, and she’s matured past her jealousy- acting on it, at least. Marinette was only human, after, and a teenager to boot.

 Adrien deserved to choose who to date, just like anyone else.

 “Don’t tell me it’s because of this new seating arrangement in class!” Lila exclaims, and Marinette only glares more heatedly. “It is! Of course, you’re jealous because I’m sitting next to Adrien, because you would’ve given anything to sit there yourself.” _‘Does she know the definition of ‘over-acting’?’_ Marinette wonders. “You know what, it’s really not worth it fighting over a boy. You and I could be friends, and who knows, I might even be able to help you with Adrien!”

 Tikki gently bumps against Marinette consolingly, but she barely acknowledges it she’s so filled with wrath. “You and I will never be friends, Lila! I can’t prove it, but I know you’re lying- you don’t have tinnitus, you’ve never even stepped foot in Achu, much less know Prince Ali! And despite what you told Alya, Ladybug has never saved your life!”

 At last, Lila drops the act and a cruel smirk crawls onto her face. “I only tell people what they want to hear.”

 “It’s called lying!”

 “People can’t resist what they want to hear.” The Italian girl walks closer to Marinette. “You don’t want to be my friend? Fine, but don’t be surprised to find all your friends turning against you. I can tell you aren’t stupid like the others, so I’ll give you one last chance. You’re either with me, or against me. You don’t have to give me an answer right away, I’ll give you ‘till the end of today.” With that, Lila leaves the bathroom, and Marinette sinks down to her knees.

 Betrayal. Hurt. Anger.

 “I thought Chloe was evil,” she whispers furiously. “but Lila really takes the cake.”

 “Marinette, calm down! Don’t let her get to you!” Tikki pops out of her purse.

 Desperately, the girl grips at the friendship charm that Adrien had given her for her birthday. “If she doesn’t get to me, then she’ll get to my friends- she’s already gotten to my friends!”

 “Hawkmoth only has power over those who don’t any other way out!” Tikki continues. “You’re smart, Marinette, I know you can figure something out!”

 “But, her plan’s already working, Tikki! All of my friends are already starting to hate me!” Marinette’s tears finally start to fall. “If I don’t expose Lila’s lies, then I’ll… I’ll be all alone again…” She’s crying in earnest now, quickly picking up in volume. Marinette’s drowning in tears and anger and _hurt._ “T-tell me, Tikki, where’s the justice in that?!” She buries her face in her knees, and there she is, curled up on the bathroom floor, sobbing like the lost girl she was. Her cries echo loudly around the bathroom, so cacophonous that she can’t hear Tikki’s warnings.

  _“Where’s the justice, indeed?”_ Hawkmoth’s dark, soothing voice fills her head. _“Your friends have abandoned you, they haven’t even given you the benefit of the doubt.”_

 “There is no justice with people like Lila running around,” Marinette whispers her agreement. “There’s no justice with people not believing someone who’s always been _there for them._ ”

  _“Don’t you want to expose Lila’s lies? Don’t you want to save your friends the heartbreak?”_

 “I don’t think they’re my friends anymore, if we’re being honest.” She can’t help the word play or the smirk that escape her mouth. “They said I could always count on them, obviously they were lying.”

  _“And honesty is such a virtue, isn’t it? So I must ask, who do you want to save from heartbreak?”_

 “I want to expose Lila, and anyone else whose lies have hurt others!” It’s hard to resist his voice, his manipulations, and his logic. It seems like her emotions from before were nothing compared to now- like a rippling puddle compared to a raging ocean.

  _“So, La Justice, if I give you the power to expose their lies, will you get me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous?”_

 “I’ll try my best, Hawkmoth,” she says. _‘But I make no promises,’_ Marinette smirks as the darkness washes over her.

 

 “Remember, I’m still here if you need help catching up,” Adrien gives her a small smile before he leaves, but she just glowers at him.

 “I can’t take all these goody-two-shoes,” she mutters as she turns away.

 At this moment, the door to the girls bathroom opens.

 “Marinette!” Lila plasters on the most real fake smile she can manage. “I’m so glad you-“

 “I’m sorry, but my name’s not Marinette.” In place of their classmate’s usual appearance, she has periwinkle skin and her hair is something out of Marie Antoinette’s time. She has a short fuchsia dress that poofs out at the waist, also not unlike Marie Antoinette. Her arms and legs are all black, with the former sporting a pink ribbon each, the latter also sporting white knee-high socks and smart black Mary Janes. “My name is La Justice, and I’m afraid I won’t be so easily pushed around, Lila.”

 

 When Alya finally thinks to go check on Marinette, feeling a little bad that she had dismissed her so quickly, she doesn’t know it’s already too late. When she meets Adrien in the courtyard, they’re both surprised by a chorus of shrill screams.

 “Why are you screaming?” came Marinette’s sweet voice, but there was something… off about it. “There’s no need for it.” When she finally steps into view of the two friends, they’re both horrified. There she is, one of her pink ribbons wrapped tightly around Lila. “If you all won’t believe me? Fine. Maybe you’ll believe the one you’re all so enraptured with.”

 “Mar-Marinette?” Alya is confused, terrified even. This was her best friend… right? “We’re so sorry, but please stop! It’s not worth it!”

 “Oh, Alya,” La Justice’s voice is full of cold pity. “Justice is worth everything. Now, please pay attention; Lila Rossi is finally going to tell the truth!” The akuma pauses before turning back to Alya. “Don’t you want to record something for the Ladyblog? It’s a rare event to be able to record an attack without risk of severe bodily harm.”

 Numbly, the journalist takes out her phone to start recording.

 “Wonderful.” A cold smile crawls across the face of La Justice as she starts bearing down on the bound Lila. “Lila, are you actually best friends with Ladybug?” The Italian gives her answer so faintly, even she couldn’t hear it. “Could you please say that louder? I couldn’t hear that.”

 “No!” rips from the girls’ throat. “We were never friends! I _hate_ Ladybug!”

 With everyone’s attention on the akuma and her victim, Adrien slips away to transform.

 “This is bad, Plagg,” he mutters to the kwami still hidden by his shirt collar. “Really, really bad.”

 “Aren’t all akumas bad?” the tiny god asks as he floats out into the open, sure there was no one nearby.

 “Yeah, but this is _Marinette_!” Adrien stresses. “She’s the nicest girl in class, maybe even the whole school! She’s supposed to be happy all the time-“

 “I’m gonna stop you right there, kid,” Plagg looks disappointed. “Everyone is allowed to feel negative emotions, even those who are happy and nice. Hell, _especially_ them because they give so much of themselves to others. Marinette has given a lot to everyone, and the way they thanked their ‘everyday Ladybug’ today probably felt like a knife to the heart.”

 The blond gapes at his kwami for a second before shaking his head. “Sometimes I forget that you’re a few thousand years old and not five, Plagg.”

 “Being deceiving is just one of my many talents,” he boasts. “But you really dropped the ball on this one, Adrien. Marinette is your friend, and you know that Lila gives out lies like candy on Halloween, but you didn’t do anything. You need to stop being so passive about everything! In cases like this, being passive just makes you an accomplice to someone else’s pain.”

 “I have to agree with Stinky Sock here,” comes a new high pitched voice. “You’re too much of a doormat, Chat Noir. Or should I say Adrien?”

 When the teenager turns his head, he sees another kwami, red with three black dots on their face. “You must be Ladybugs kwami! Where is she, is she hurt?”

 “I am, you can call me Tikki. About Ladybug, she’s… sick and can’t come right now.” The kwami continues. “But don’t worry, she’ll be fine, and I can help purify the akuma today. But we’ve spent enough time talking, don’t you think?”

 “You’re right! Plagg, claws out!”

 

 Everyone in the courtyard was gob smacked as the list of lies just grew longer and longer. Lila hadn’t been to Achu, she didn’t know Prince Ali, she’d never met Jagged Stone, her wrist was never sprained, she didn’t have tinnitus, she… she…

 Was average. Unexceptional. She was just a pretty Italian girl who never had anything exciting happen to her.

 La Justice finally let go of the now crying girl, who fell in a pathetic heap on the ground. The butterfly symbol appears over her face. “No, it is strange that Chat Noir hasn’t appeared yet… Maybe if I went after the Mayor instead? There’s several things he’s promised but hasn’t made good on… did he ever actually intent on building more homeless shelters? I think not.” Just as she turns to go, a baton slams down on the pavement in front of her.

 “I think not, duchess. Your reign of terror is about to end!”

 “Ah, Chat Noir. I was wondering where you were.” La Justices’ smile is as cold and empty as ever. “It’s only terror if you have something to hide, and I bet that black leather hides as much as the polluted Paris sky, no?”

 “Don’t we all have skeletons in the closet, Purr-incess?” Chat deflects from his perch on the railing on the second floor.

 “I suppose we all do,” she acquiesces with a nod. “But I get the feeling you’ve lied before, in a big way.” Then, without warning, one of her pink ribbons whips through the air towards the superhero, and he barely manages to dodge out of the way in time. He looks into his classmates eyes, and behind the false smile, he can see what she’s really feeling.

Betrayal. Hurt. Anger.

**XxX**

**Author's Note:**

> I'm leaving this as a one-shot because I reached my catharsis as soon as Lila was exposed, and writing beyond that felt forced.


End file.
